“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.” ― Henry David Thoreau This is one of my favorite quotes. If you think about, it’s really a philosophy for everything in life. We all have a […]

It’s that time of year. Tonight is our first freeze in the Bangor area, and last week, our chicky girls laid fewer eggs than they ever have. There’s some molting going on, and the days are getting shorter. I saw a post on a chicken Facebook site (yes, we have those) that read “Let the […]

I really, really need this election to be over. I really, really need everyone to just get along. I’m stressed out and in a worry. I can’t stand to be on Facebook. I feel ideologically betrayed by my own family. And I’m so stressed that even my husband told me to settle down last week. […]

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my anxiety surrounding our first “one bad day” as farmers. We had 14 chickens to process, and I had never experienced anything like it before. For me, it was a tough day. A long day. A draining day—and my husband did most of the work. Still, that […]

The last time we had a local visit from a major politician, I wrote about how I planned to avoid talking to my kids about Donald Trump’s visit because, well, I just don’t feel he sets a good example for our children. But, today, Bernie Sanders is visiting Bangor, and I feel like he’s a […]

This year, we purchased some heirloom corn seeds in the hope of seed saving the corn this year. Last year, we planted a hybrid corn. It was delicious and grew well, but when we learned you can never repeat with a hybrid corn because you never know what will crop up, we decided to be […]

Crystal Sands

I am a former academic and award winning writing teacher turned hobby farmer/homeschooling mom/freelancer.
In 2015, after too many years of working too many hours, I decided to change my life. This blog shares my stories related to making the change and simplifying my life–a process that began when we finally got our first chickens.
In this blog, I will share my experiences learning how to hobby farm on a small place in Maine, become more self-sufficient, live frugally, live peacefully, and have more time for love.
I hope you will join me on this journey by following my blog and following me on Twitter @CrystalDSands.